Hunting Time

He could have slept for a long time, but after only two days, Su He forced himself awake. His shell had not yet fallen off, but the tingling itch across it had already reached its peak. In another two or three days at most, he would shed his shell.

But Su He could not wait.

He scooped up a water band and constantly washed over his shell, rubbing and crashing it against the rocks. At last, pieces of turtle shell began to fall away.

Green light flickered over two of the shell fragments. They were the two spirit talismans Lu Ming had left behind.

One was a Location Talisman, and the other was a Myriad Force Talisman.

Su He's turtle shell was the finest possible carrier for talisman scripts.

A flash of inspiration crossed Su He's mind. Perhaps he should save every piece of shell he shed from now on. Never mind whether they could become artifact-refining materials in the future; gathering them would at least prevent them from falling into others' hands and becoming a hidden danger.

In a world of cultivation, there might well be methods that used parts of one's body for curses or tracking.

Two days had already passed. Lu Ming's white tiger could come to kill him at any moment.

Su He had already chosen its burial ground.

It lay atop a small underwater mountain two li away. There was a U-shaped cave on the mountain. The cave was not small, but it was dark and eerie.

In truth, there was nothing inside. Only a few fish and shrimp lived there.

The turtle shell bearing the Myriad Force Talisman was embedded in the cave ceiling, while the Location Talisman and the other shell fragments were buried at the cave floor. It was a simple trap. It would be good if it worked, but if it failed, it was no great matter.

When beasts fought, they had always relied on ferocity. Stealth and ambush were villainous methods—though naturally, they were even more important. That was the foundation of punching above one's weight.

After burying the shell fragments, Su He immediately made a trip to Snake Valley and used a two-point-quality wild boar piglet to invite out the Green Snake.

After two days apart, the Green Snake had become even more intelligent. Its hissing carried more meanings now, and it could actually exchange a few words with Su He.

Using its emerald-green coloring, it hid among the water grass, while Su He returned to his old trade and burrowed into the mud.

Both snake and turtle were patient hunters. The two beasts remained motionless. Su He fought back his drowsiness until, on the third day, a savage ancient aura approached from afar, heading straight toward him.

It was here!

Five hundred li away, at the Prison Suppression of Azure Origin Sect's Law Enforcement Hall.

Lu Ming carried a food box as he delivered meals to the prisoners in Prison Suppression. Confinement at Azure Origin Sect did not mean being locked in a room to reflect. It meant guarding Prison Suppression.

Prison Suppression held the sect's great enemies, criminals, and evil demons. Guarding Prison Suppression meant being unable to leave it, forced to remain rooted in one place. It was no different from confinement.

Of course, they could not approach the true Prison Suppression. Its actual guards were disciples specially trained by the sect. These confined disciples merely did odd jobs.

Lu Ming had just finished delivering food to the guarding disciples. He now sat beneath a great tree, his eyes vacant and hollow, yet a smile hung on his face.

Everything was proceeding according to plan.

Sure enough, with just a small trick, the spoiled Little Princess from the sect leader's family had turned Beast Taming Valley upside down. This time, flames soared into the sky within Beast Taming Valley, and countless beasts had escaped.

His white tiger had fled Beast Taming Valley in panic half an hour ago. This time, it was racing toward Listening Sea Lake.

Borrowing the white tiger's vision, Lu Ming watched the entire journey.

The white tiger was his Lifebound Beast. Naturally, Lu Ming could share its vision. Though he could neither control nor command it, seeing was enough.

The white tiger was traveling in a straight line by following the Location Talisman he had left behind. Lu Ming broke into a cold sweat for it.

Faster!

Even faster!

This time, Feng Ya Ya had released quite a few beast pets. He could not allow any other beast pet to find that divine turtle first.

The Location Talisman indicated that the divine turtle was right ahead! The white tiger leaped into the water and swam directly toward the marked location.

Lu Ming licked his lips. Being in the water was no problem. The turtle's shell bore a Myriad Force Talisman, enough to crush it until it could not move. Even underwater, it could only let the white tiger tear and bite it apart, then swallow it whole.

It was only a divine beast cub that had yet to master any divine abilities. Killing it would not be difficult!

"Lu Ming!"

Someone suddenly called out.

Lu Ming jolted back to his senses, immediately severing his Linked Perception with the white tiger. He rose and answered, "Here!"

Su He held his breath and focused his mind.

Closer!

Even closer! Su He burrowed beneath the mud and remained perfectly still. The Green Snake, however, swayed gently with the water grass, completely merging into its surroundings.

"Roar!" With a roar, a white tiger crashed through the spray and dove beneath the water.

This was a gigantic white tiger whose body alone measured two zhang long. Every movement it made carried an ancient savage aura assaulting the face.

As it roared, three stars appeared between the white tiger's brows.

Su He's heart suddenly clenched.

This was a Three-Star Exotic Beast! Su He had only seen an exotic beast once before: the mount of the Slovenly Old Daoist. It had been a camel with an even greater addiction to alcohol than the Slovenly Old Daoist, and whenever it got drunk, a crescent moon appeared between its brows.

Demon stars, crescent moons, eclipsed suns—the three ranks of exotic beasts corresponded to the three human realms of Shedding Mortality, Demon Transformation, and Treading Heaven.

Three stars between the white tiger's brows indicated that it had already completed three transformations in the Demon Star stage. It could not be judged by ordinary standards.

Su He and the Green Snake became even more cautious, not daring to make the slightest sound. Fortunately, the white tiger breathed with lungs and could not smell them underwater.

The white tiger plunged headfirst into the cave, greed flickering in its eyes. It had smelled turtle on the shore earlier. This was a great tonic! Its master's Location Talisman was here, so that turtle must have burrowed into the earth.

The white tiger dug with both claws and scraped several shell fragments out from beneath the soil.

Hm? The white tiger was somewhat bewildered. At that moment, a Water Arrow shot over and exploded against the mountain rock above its head. Rock shards scattered, and a piece of turtle shell fell from above, floating lightly down onto the white tiger's body. As if it had triggered a switch, the Myriad Force Talisman on the shell brightened.

Like a crushing mountain, it came down upon the white tiger's back. The white tiger collapsed with a boom, its entire body pressed into a U-shape.

Beautifully done!

Having landed her strike, the Green Snake immediately fled far away. Her position had been exposed. Who knew what abilities the white tiger possessed? Escaping to preserve her life came first.

"Roar!" The white tiger roared, spewing great streams of bubbles from its mouth and nose. It clawed at the ground, trying to leap up and tear apart that Green Snake, but the turtle shell pinned it firmly to the ground. Let alone standing, it could not even roll over.

Azure Origin Sect, Prison Suppression.

As Lu Ming spoke with a Law Enforcement disciple, he lightly clenched his fist. Beautiful! The Myriad Force Talisman he had left behind had been activated. The white tiger must already be fighting the divine turtle.

That Myriad Force Talisman would only activate upon contact with the white tiger. The tiger had at least jumped onto the divine turtle's back. A white tiger, plus the Myriad Force Talisman's several hundred thousand jin of force—

No matter how extraordinary that turtle was, there was only one outcome: it would be devoured by the white tiger.

What a pity that this Law Enforcement disciple had tied him up, leaving him unable to watch it with his own eyes. What a great regret in life.

Beneath Listening Sea Lake, the white tiger lay prone on the ground, clawing desperately at the earth and struggling, yet unable to rise. Its spine even emitted creaking sounds.

It glared furiously at the Green Snake. "Roar!"

With that roar, a phantom sprayed from its mouth—a ghostly figure draped in strips of gray cloth. The instant it emerged, even the surrounding lake water was dyed black.

Vaguely, it could be seen that she had once been a woman. Now, her face was full of savagery, and she was foul to the extreme.

A tiger's ghost servant!

The term abruptly surfaced in Su He's mind for no reason.

This should be the white tiger's ghost servant.

The ghost servant immediately charged at the Green Snake. As she floated over Su He's head, Su He bit down.

Crack!

His teeth snapped together on empty air. They passed through the ghost servant's body, unable to bite her.

This ghost servant was illusory. She had no physical form.

Attacked by Su He, the ghost servant swung back and stabbed a dagger into Su He's turtle shell. With a teeth-grating screech, the dagger failed to pierce the shell.

"Roar!"

The white tiger roared again, bubbles churning from its mouth and nose.

It was an exotic beast. Though it could not awaken intelligence, and its intelligence was only a notch higher than that of ordinary wild beasts, it still knew that it had fallen into a trap.

This turtle was the prey its master had sent it to hunt. The prey had joined forces with a long worm to fight back! The white tiger roared, and the ghost servant abandoned Su He, brandishing her dagger as she rushed at the Green Snake.

The white tiger was not stupid. It could sense that the Green Snake posed a greater threat than the turtle—that Green Snake could use demon arts! She could pin it here and shoot it dead from afar! The Green Snake coiled and twisted, dodging the ghost servant's attacks.

This ugly thing made no sense. She could strike the snake, but the snake could not strike her.

The Green Snake twisted her body and dodged the ghost servant's dagger, then flicked her head and shot out a Water Arrow. The Water Arrow passed through the ghost servant's phantom, unable to harm her.

Su He narrowed his eyes and turned toward the white tiger.

To capture bandits, capture their king; to kill the ghost servant, kill the tiger first!